Gun bill could pave the way

State Senate leader says coalition passes a major test, a possible sign of future deals

By Jimmy Vielkind

Published 9:34 pm, Saturday, January 19, 2013

ALBANY — Ruben Diaz Sr. had just voted for a gun control bill containing provisions that he and his fellow Democrats had long supported, but the Bronx senator was grousing, audibly, as he walked off the chamber floor.

"We're the ones providing the votes," he said as colleagues tried to coax him along late Monday. "We are being used as a rubber stamp and Jeff Klein and the Independent Democratic Conference are cutting the deal and getting the credit."

The 63-seat Senate organized two weeks ago under an unprecedented power-sharing agreement between Republicans, who hold 30 seats, and six Democrats — most of them in the IDC, which was formed by Sen. Jeff Klein in 2011.

Even though a majority of Republicans in the chamber voted against the bill, Republican Conference Leader Dean Skelos allowed it to come to the floor. Klein was its sponsor. The gun control legislation, a bitter pill for many upstate Republicans who ended up voting against it, was seen as a test of whether the new coalition would be able to advance legislation with bipartisan support.

"I think we passed with flying colors," Klein said.

The gun bill, dubbed NY SAFE, may portend an easier path for other progressive items that Gov. Andrew Cuomo laid out in his State of the State address, such as an increase in the minimum wage and strengthening abortion rights.

"The operative thing to keep an eye on is where Klein's group of five is in agreement with a large chunk of the GOP," said Bruce Gyory, a political consultant who has advised three governors and teaches at the University at Albany. "That gives the governor leverage. Gun control was a good first start, and let's see where it goes."

Here's how it could work: If Cuomo, a Democrat, is in agreement with the IDC on an issue, he can ask its members to move forward with a bill. The IDC's position between the Republicans and Democrats allows it to flirt with both, and in some instances, pressure one or the other into action.

Republicans in this instance choose to negotiate rather than get jammed. Under the new Senate rules, Skelos and Klein both have the ability to keep a bill from coming to the floor. Cuomo, whose statewide popularity remains in the stratosphere, publicly threatened to use his bully pulpit to go after legislators who oppose him on the gun issue.

Republican leaders recognize that they are a minority in a state growing ever bluer, and such an attack could be devastating in key districts on Election Day. Conversely, they realize that allowing an issue to the floor can protect incumbents in more left-leaning districts from election-cycle attacks.

A poll released last week found 74 percent of Long Islanders — including 71 percent of Republicans — supported the broad outlines of the gun control bill, which expanded the definition of banned assault weapons and increased criminal penalties for illegal gun users. (Democrats pushed for the ban, Republicans for the penalties.) Eight of the region's nine senators, all Republicans, voted for the bill.

Skelos was among them. He didn't say so directly, but suggested the GOP might have cut the deal without the presence of the IDC.

"I don't speculate retroactively, but nobody thought gay marriage would come to the floor," Skelos said, referencing a 2011 bill that was approved with only four Republican votes.

Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the new Democratic conference leader, treated the passage of the gun bill as a win. "The Senate Democrats were proud to provide the votes to make this crucial package possible," she said in a statement.

Gyory said he didn't see why the same dynamic wouldn't yield action on the minimum wage increase. The real test of the coalition, he said, would be if Skelos allowed a measure to the floor supported by only a few, or even none, of his Republicans.

Klein said the gun bill turned out better because it contained provisions Republicans sought.

"What we have to get a handle on is 'negotiation' is not a dirty word — it's a part of effective governing," he said. "Why does it have to be only what the Democrats always wanted? Maybe it should be what the Republicans want as well."

As expressed by Diaz's frustration, the chamber's mainstream Democrats may see policies they champion enacted, even if they're not in the driver's seat. Friction may come when Klein and Skelos join Cuomo on a bill that the mainstream Democrats say is watered down — perhaps on public campaign finance — though this could be tempered by more liberal Democrats who dominate the state Assembly.

Of course, everyone in the power structure, Cuomo most of all, is happy to tell constituents that they're getting things done — a narrative of basic competency that contrasts with gridlock on the federal level.

"I think the past two years you have seen a steady growth in the functional capacity of government," Cuomo said at the bill signing. "We have had our pick-ups and we have had our fits and starts ... but this is a state government that's getting better, stronger."